A sparkling white pearl flying through the air with numerous velocity changes and an uncountable number of flight paths is what Robert Francis describes in two of his poems called "Catch" and "The Pitcher." In "Catch," Francis portrays two "un coached" boys playing catch with a baseball. In the poem "Pitcher," Francis describes the deception of the pitcher. Lines 3 and 4 from "Pitcher" say, "His passion how to avoid the obvious. His technique how to vary the avoidance." Being a complete mystery while pitching is something that every pitcher aspires to be. One thing my Dad always used to compare with pitching was playing chess. It's such a mental game, trying out-think the hitters a pitch or two in advance, while also keeping the hitter on his toes. Both poems describe the deception that can occur while playing baseball, but also how poets want their poems to be, deceptive. The three similarities I found between the two poems are the tone, metaphors, and deception.
The first similarity within the two poems was the tone. The tones were both on the mellow side and both poems also made the reader go back and read again to really understand the meaning of the poems. Francis really implied three things: expect to be surprised, stay on your toes, and concentrate on the delivery. Concentrating on the delivery is the most important thing because if not then there is no chance for the ball to be caught. Both poems are related to baseball and poetry in a sense of being "misunderstood." The pitcher avoids the obvious to a hitter, as a poet avoids the obvious to a reader. Both like being difficult to be figured out and truly understood. Staying on your toes is a huge part of baseball because of how tricky the game can become, and poetry is the same way. It can sweep the reader off their feet if they are unprepared, or if they "take their eye off the ball.
